Hi,

I have a 1940s cape cod that was renovated in the mid 80s due to a fire. During this renovation, I believe the previous owners added an addition that is now my family room. Because they were using carpeting between the dining area in the kitchen and the adjoining family room addition, they apparently shimmed (see pic) the underside of the subfloor to build up the two sections so that they would be relatively level with each other.

The problem I have is that I'm getting ready to do a kitchen renovation and would like to install hardwood flooring. There is 8mm laminate installed at the moment, but I know how important it is to have the floor to be flat for hardwood installation. Could the shims be removed and some transition molding be used to make up for the height difference between the two rooms? If so, what would the process entail and would it be a major process? Also, would there be any issues with the structure as a result of doing this? The floor is shimmed over an 7-8 foot span only at the entry way between the two rooms. I plan on having my contractor look at it but would like to have a reasonable idea of what my options are.

Thanks!
Josh